Gerrard: An Age Old Tale
by raconteur27
Summary: The trials of Sypherist and Gerrard
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first story submission, so please be gentle. Also, please be patient with the next few chapters as I'll be busy with school and such.**

Only Gerrard knows for sure if he is half god or half demon, if he is a flaw in the stitches weaved by the Creators that went unnoticed or more likely than the former unheeded, or if he was conceived a man and ascended to his higher status through magical means; however, Gerrard did follow a normal time flow for a short while and even by his own standards was thought to be nothing but another mortal man living out his existence. This living paradox was perceivably an average man raised as a priest of Silvercrane for over twenty-five years when he begun to realize he is much more than normal.

At an early age he was delivered as an orphan by an unspoken source to Silvercrane's prominent church of the god of knowledge, Eidol. In an attempt to compensate for the hospitality of the church, he has journeyed for most of his life professing Eidol's teachings. Garbed in the normal white accoutrements of the order of Eidol, in his right hand was held a cane made of wood topped with a serpent of gold coiled with its fangs bared upwards, in his left hand was the book professing his god. The book of Eidol was bound in an exquisite, ornate blue cover and was decorated richly in gold lettering upon the travel-worn, but nonetheless striking, book's front. Gerrard was of an average height, his build was less than that of the ordinary man, and when he walked he held his head high in defiance of the world that tried to forsake him earlier in his life. His eyes were an extraordinary lament of green, his hair brown and straight reaching down to the neck as was common among priests of his time, and his skin slightly tanned due to years of travel. The journey in this part of his life had led him and the four Draungerion Elites that accompanied him to an olden town without religion called Glavendroom.

Gerrard at first held skepticism of the recent extensive assignment thrust upon him, as missions requiring this distance of travel were unheard of in Eidol's orders. After much debate with his superiors he was eventually given the consent of the high priestess Erenime to acquire the assistance of a few Draungerion Elitists. Erenime was the one who originally took him in and named him Gerrard when he was found an infant slumbering at the foot of the steps leading up to Eidol's monastery. The Draungerion Elites in writing are the defenders of the church of Eidol who in times of need ensure that the ideals of their god are never lost. In books of lore found in the Eidol monastery's library, this order derived its origins from one of the founder of the church's spiritual visions over one thousand years previous. Although many consider these soldiers to be the church's private tithe collectors due to the constant unwarranted deployment often practiced by the corrupted leaders underneath of Erenime. Unfortunately she is blind to their immoral ambitions and turns ear when speech of their malice arises in conversation.


	2. Chapter 2

Glavendroom was a relatively sizeable town hidden away deep within an illustrious but dangerous forest. Although the particular part of the forest the ancient city resided was decrepit and decayed as if possessed by some lingering evil refusing to be subdued peacefully. With the desired town nearly coming into view, the path began a transformation from leaf littered soil into a morbid swampy marsh with death and rot lingering in the air like an ill fated omen. Gerrard glancing to the leader of his accompanying Draungerion Elitists asked him, "Think there will be any converts here, Sypherist?"

Sypherist stood much taller than the other three bodyguards and his build was larger than that of even the most savage of warriors, his eyes were a dark but pleasant blue, his hair was striking, extensive, and a noticeable shade of bronze. Sypherist wore an armor that appeared incapable of protecting its user but was in reality far from useless. Adorned on his left was a shield that was equally invaluable appearing as his armor and also equally as powerful. The armor and shield bore archaic symbols of unknown origin engraved in the metal through an art long-sense deceased among the various kingdoms of man. Inside of the symbols on the armor is depicted a lion proudly staring into the sky silently shouting its defiance of defeat. The shield pictured a noble eagle screeching its challenge upward to the heavens that hearten the bird's wings. The scarcely tampered scabbard encasing his sword nodded with his strides, mimicking his movements forward as he pressed further into the forest.

"Only Eidol knows for sure. I was informed of an evil influence thought to have consumed the mind of the lord of these forest folk, so don't raise your hopes too highly. He may not find us as welcome in his lands as we would wish." came the morose response.

Distressed vaguely by the answer, Gerrard's thoughts trailed off for a few moments before ultimately losing them entirely to the appearance of four figures approaching in the distance.

"We're nearing the city. They're probably just patrols from Glavendroom keeping the passage into their gates safe from bandits and the beasts of this forest." Sypherist said trying to ease Gerrard's obvious distress.

Gerrard nodded, unconvinced, and continued to move onward with the rest of his party. After a couple of minutes the two groups eventually converged. Gerrard, Sypherist and the other Draungerion Elitists halted to embrace in conversation with the six patrolling soldiers that now stood in front of them.

The most highly decorated of the soldiers dared forward and questioned,"What is your business in Glavendroom, Priest?" in his raspy but nonetheless commanding voice. The soldier now understood to be the captain appeared malevolently garbed in rust tainted chainmail armor with a skull embedded in the weaves over top his heart. Upon his sash was holstered a standard soldier's blade with a tattered scabbard due to the perpetual use it grew accustomed to over the years of service to its owner. The captain was much larger than the ones that accompanied him but he appeared diminutive in comparison to Sypherist, his eyes and hair both glistened black as night, and his smile seemed to be a gift from Sicious, god of Ignorance.

"I have traveled a great distance to ask the people of this city to reconsider their godless ways and succumb to the will of Eidol, god of knowledge. In this book are the teachings of Eidol and his doings that would change the traditions of much of this town and I am certain the people will welcome religion into their lives if given this opportunity."

The captain of the guards smiled musingly at Gerrard, while the other soldiers were immediately in tears due to their derisive laughter at the heinous idea posed them.

"Let us pass" were the only words Sypherist let escape his pursed lips as he stared menacingly into the eyes of the evil troupe's captain. His voice resounded in such a way that fear seeped easily into the throats of his tormentors, like water into the cracks of stone, halting their sardonic laughter.

To this the captain replied after relocating his voice, "A priest will never be allowed to set foot in Glavendroom travelers. If one ever manages to, our master's hold on this land could become jeopardized. Without him in power, we in turn would lose our authority. Besides, we already have a god. Take a look at this." Reaching into an extensive pocket sown into his leather leggings, the captain withdrew a round, thick, wooden disc. A closed book engulfed in flames was etched on the surface of the disc, identifying the men to be followers of Sicious. "Empower me, SICIOUS!" he said putting emphasis on the word lost so that it was almost a yell.

Not long after the captain's words, the twang of a bowstring was heard ringing from atop a tree not far from where they congregated. This was followed in quick repercussion by the familiar whirl of an arrow hurtling through the air at breakneck speed towards its target. Sypherist realizing what was happening immediately drew his sword and sought refuge behind his ancient shield. One of the other Draungerion Elites was not given the same chance to adjust his defenses as the first arrow lodged itself in his throat seconds after the shot was heard. The shot killed him on impact.


	3. Chapter 3

More arrows were fired down at Gerrard's accompaniment and wooden death continued buzzing and whirring around them. Gerrard, fleeing to the shelter of the trees, watched in horror as the Draungerion Elitists were one by one shed entirely of life. Finally, Sypherist was the only one left alive of his band, unscathed by the onslaught of the deadly arrows. Sypherist had armor unlike any Gerrard had ever seen, as the arrows seemed to just break upon impact with the metal. Sypherist charged the captain of the group and thrust his sword clean through the neck of the commanding soldier. The captain uttered one final breath before Sypherist pulled the sword from his bleeding neck felling the officer to his knees until finally he ascended prone upon the earth. Averting his attention to the other five guards Sypherist quickly spun about building moment enough to catch one of the other soldiers in the middle of where the guard's neck meets his shoulder with enough force to cut across his body right into the heart of the stunned patrol. Leaving the sword inside his victim, Sypherist stole the mace that the officer was holding just before his demise. Dodging a blow given by one of the remaining guards closest to him he stepped past and knocked the helmet off of another guard standing behind the attacking guard. Yet another of the tyrannical warriors swung his sword at Sypherist and caught his shield knocking it away leaving Sypherist open for a moments attack. Sypherist retaliated to this assault with a powerful upward thrust to the jaw of the guard that had nearly loosed the shield from him not granting the officer a chance to stab the Draungerion, and sent him sprawling to the ground, but he was dead before he got there. After this brutal display the hero was finally knocked to the ground after one of the remaining patrols struck him with a costly blow to the back. The three remaining soldiers did not bother to mourn for the fallen and went in search of the priest.

Gerrard understood the dire position he was faced when he saw the defeat of the ranking Draungerion Elite, Sypherist. He realized it was only a matter of time before the marauders eventually found him. He thought to himself that the only chance he stood was to make a stand by seizing one of the weapons littering the path. He held bound a dagger beneath his leggings, but the overwhelming number of guards could easily overpower such a minuscule device. Glimpsing Sypherist's sword still protruding from the body of the last to die by its piercing edge, Gerrard readied himself for a break to the weapon. Before he could, he felt something grab hold of his body and start raising him to the treetop. Gerrard looked around to find that hands were protruding naturally from the tree and that the extensions were somehow apart of the bark that spanned the mighty oaken plant. As he ascended into the tree's canopy out of the reach and sight of the seeking warriors, he thought he heard a soft giggling enter into his ears. Set upon a lofty branch by the mysterious appendages, Gerrard's initial fear of the creature transformed into curiosity. The protruding hands moved around him on the branch to the far end and upon reaching near the edge the beautiful face of a woman with skin of bark started to rise from the branch betwixt the two arms, somehow still apart of the tree and yet slowly melting away from the plant like liquid. A neck followed the head, which sang prelude to the body and legs until the beauteous humanoid was detached completely from the confines of the tree. The mysterious green bark-skinned creature was smaller than an average woman and appeared frailer, she had eyes the color of the leaves on the tree, her hair the shading of the tree trickled freely down her right side in a gorgeous fashion, and her beauty was unmatched by any mortal Gerrard had ever seen. She raised her finger to his lips hushing him as he tried to pose the question of who and what she was. Giggling softly and pointing to where the guards were standing in the path. Gerrard saw they were now confused by the priest's disappearance and that they were busy discussing the possible locations of concealment he might have taken refuged within.

As the men were conversing, a woman much like the one that had saved Gerrard slowly walked towards the already confused soldiers. She was soon followed by two more from other areas of the marsh. Two more came from yet another region. Pretty soon there were seven beautiful bark skinned women standing before the guards giggling. The soldiers seemed baffled by the sudden appearance of these forest creatures and obviously had never seen them before either. Three of the creatures slowly walked up seductively to one of the warriors each. The soldiers not minding the intrusion one bit replaced their weapons within the concealment of their scabbards with the false sense that danger had passed. Grinning peacefully they each one by one kissed the ear of the soldier before them and pulled back. The grins of the creatures were wilder on these bark-skinned women than that of the one that preserved Gerrard's life. They had eyes that glimmered in the sun and their hair blew serenely with the breeze. The bark skins, slow and seductive, walked away into the forest. The lusting soldiers followed after the nymphs as if held entranced by their beautiful features and serene touch. The creatures led them further and further into the unknown labyrinth of the marsh until becoming ensconced by the forests natural entrapments. In the distance, Gerrard heard the screams of two soldiers perched in a tree suddenly fall violently to their deaths. The branches had moved themselves out from underneath the soldiers. Moments later he watched as the vulture and other carrion started circling around the air deep in the forest where the soldiers had ventured after the seductive nymphs. The birds knew the ways of the nymphs and now Gerrard did. The soldiers were not so lucky.

The creature in front of him giggled again and said in a high-pitched voice that embraced the ears of the listener, "Gerrard the priest has finally come back! You said you would you know! You knew you would! You knew that you would come to deliver us salvation!" She giggles once more before smoothly disappearing into the tree once again only this time with much rapidity. Just as the last hair meandered into the tree, the branch that Gerrard was resting on moved out from underneath of him. He found himself suddenly hurtling headfirst towards the ground at a breakneck speed.


End file.
